When Anona Thomas was a little girl growing up in St Dogmaels, she knew that the beauty and charm of that iconic village was going to stay with her for a very long time to come.

“There’s no doubt that growing up in Y Cwmmins and learning about the village around me has been a tremendous inspiration,” she said.

“The sense that the place offers me, even now that I’m living in Cardiff, is incredible. And I miss the coast so much, with Poppit beach probably being my favourite place in the world.”

Anona, who is the daughter of former Cardigan secondary school teacher Huw Evans and his wife Wendy, was recently named winner of a highly coveted Royal Television Society Cymru Wales award for her teen sci-fi drama ‘Y Goleudy’.

It follows the journey of Efa, a strong-minded girl who goes to live with her grandfather in a small, quiet town by the sea, very similar to St Dogmaels.

Her attention is quickly drawn by the lighthouse (Y Goleudy), which holds a sinister and somewhat strange presence. Despite the villagers’ warnings, Efa decides to visit ‘Y Goleudy’ and finds herself travelling through its portals into another world.

“As soon as I started writing it, I knew it was going to work,” continues Anona. “And the way in which the team filmed the series with such incredibly strong aesthetics and imagery has been amazing.”

Anona’s introduction to literature began in Ysgol Gynradd Aberteifi - Cardigan Primary School – followed by Cardigan Secondary School where she did A levels in English literature, art, Welsh and RE.

In 2003 she was accepted by the University of Portsmouth to study film studies and creative art, and remained there for the next three years.

“In those days, I wanted to become an actress,” she laughs. “But I loved all things creative…art, music and, naturally, drama…and didn’t really know how it would all end up.”

But following an MA in creative writing, Anona’s mind was finally made up.

After writing some children’s stories for Radio Cymru, her attentions turned towards television scripts. Her first work, Itopia, became a huge hit for S4C and this was closely following by ‘Y Goleudy’.

“Writing a script enables me to go into another world and I just love being there,” she explains.

“ I always listen to music that fits in with that particular concept, so when I was writing ‘Y Goleudy’ I was listening to a lot of film music and riptide songs.”

The series was released in December 2022 and, needless to say, has won tremendous applause from critics and, most importantly, her audience.

“This is one of the most recognised awards in the industry so it’s naturally an incredible achievement to win it.

“But I’m a fairly ambitious person and I now want to continue moving upwards.

"But whatever happens in the future, I’ll be staying true to my roots. St Dogmaels is where all this first started and that’s how it’s going to continue for the rest of my working days.”